PITTSBURGH—Carnegie Mellon University has received a $2 million grant from the Eden Hall Foundation to expand its research capacity in a new energy building slated to house scholars focused on improving energy efficiency and developing novel sustainable energy sources.

“The lab spaces supported by Eden Hall are crucial for Carnegie Mellon faculty and students working on advanced problems in energy and biomedical engineering that all have the potential for generating ideas that will lead to future economic growth in western Pennsylvania,” said CMU President Jared L. Cohon. “We are grateful to the Eden Hall Foundation for their generous support of this facility, which we hope and expect will be extremely valuable to our region.”

The Scott Institute will support teams of CMU engineers, scientists, economists, architects, policy specialists and others that will tackle a wide range of issues including more efficient energy solutions to reduce carbon emissions, smart grid energy research, and development of new advanced materials and processes to produce and store energy more efficiently and economically.

“There is an acute need for energy-related workers by the end of this decade, and that’s why we are supporting education and research programs now under way at CMU that will help our region grow and provide increased economic opportunities to the region,” said Sylvia Fields, executive director of the Pittsburgh-based Eden Hall Foundation, which was established in the 1930s by H.J. Heinz Co. executive Sebastian Mueller.

CMU researchers have successfully created energy sector innovations, from helping California provide electricity without greenhouse gas emissions to helping secure the U.S. power grid from cyber attacks.

“We look forward to using this grant to support our ongoing goal of developing technologies for the future and for promoting the growth of knowledge workers as we seek to energize the U.S. manufacturing sector,” said Gary Fedder, head of CMU’s Institute for Complex Engineered Systems (ICES) and a professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering. “Without this kind of financial support, it would be difficult to equip our new labs with the tools we need to continue our cutting-edge work.”

The Sherman & Joyce Bowie Scott Hall is scheduled for completion by 2015.

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The rendering above shows the 100,000-square-foot Sherman & Joyce Bowie Scott Hall, which will house wet and dry laboratories, collaborative workspaces, office spaces, a café and a 10,000-square-foot cleanroom facility. The building also will be home to the newly announced Wilton E. Scott Institute for Energy Innovation at CMU.